Overcoming Insecurity

Insecurity: lack of confidence or assurance; self-doubt

I don’t have to wonder or guess at how many of you have struggled with insecurity. At one point in time or another, we all have. We question our value, our worth, our abilities, whether or not we belong—some more than others. Outward confidence does not necessarily indicate a lack of insecurity. And what causes us to feel insecure? What is the root of this stronghold?

Insecurity is an identity issue.

Feelings of insecurity have wreaked havoc on generation after generation, and in the battle against insecurity, I believe we have made a very unfortunate assumption about ourselves:

“My activity determines my identity.”

In other words, what I do determines who I am. For example, I am a wife and a mom. I am an author and a speaker. Therefore, I could easily conclude that each of these roles or hats that I wear inform me of who I am. However, what happens when I don’t feel confident or assured in any one of these roles? What happens when I start to doubt my ability in these things? What happens when I start to struggle in any one of these given roles? Identity crisis. A downward spiral of insecurity.

Can you see the error in this perspective?

The roles that you and I fill, the activities that fill our days…these things do not define us. They are not WHO we are; they are WHAT we do. You and I are who God says we are in His Word.

We are loved, chosen, adopted, forgiven, favored, sealed, and secure. We are not defined by what we do but rather by what Christ has already done on the cross. We belong to Him. Therefore, He gets to say who we are. Our identity is found in Him.

When we know whose we are, we know who we are.

Insecurity is the Enemy’s way of causing us to question our true identity in Christ, and if he can get us to question WHO we are, it will not be long before we begin to question WHOSE we are. And when we don’t know WHO we are and to WHOM we belong, we don’t know what to do. So, we start doing whatever we can. We throw ourselves into activity after activity. We exhaust ourselves after the approval and acceptance of others. We lose sleep obsessing about what others think of us. Instead of walking in Christ-confidence and assurance of who we are in Him, we doubt ourselves and cripple our effectiveness.

Jesus wants to set us free today from the shackles of insecurity and release us to the freedom that comes when we truly know WHO we are in Christ.

Like anyone else, this has been a reoccurring struggle in my own life. It got to a point last year where I had to get serious about my freedom from the stronghold of insecurity, or I was going to start forfeiting the blessings that God wanted to pour out into my life. So, I ran to His Word. I began to study His character in Scripture. I chose to start believing that because I am made in His image, I reflect aspects of His character. Because He is strong, I, therefore, carry the strength of Christ in me. Because He is magnificent, I am a magnificent creation. He doesn’t make mistakes. I began to declare these truths over my life, and as I made these bold declarations from the Word of God over my life, I started to taste freedom from insecurity like never before.

And I am desperate for that same freedom for you!

Below are a few Scripture prayers taken from Beth Moore’s Praying God’s Word chapter on “Overcoming the Insecurity of Feeling Unloved.” While this chapter is specifically addressing feeling unloved, these prayers are relevant to any struggle of insecurity. So, use them! Pray these words out loud! Believe God for your freedom in Christ!

O God, please set my heart at rest in Your presence when my heart wants to condemn me. For You, God, are greater than my heart, and You know everything. (1 John 3:19-20)

Father God, how great is the love You have lavished on me, that I should be called a child of God! And that is what I am! (1 John 3:1)

You, the Lord my God, are with me, You are mighty to save. You will take great delight in me, You will quiet me with Your love, You will rejoice over me with singing! (Zephaniah 3;17)